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About the project
The City has created a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) to protect significant buildings and landscape features in Guelph’s core and create a heritage-sensitive plan to guide future development in the area.
In 2021, Council approved the recommendations of the Cultural Heritage Action Plan which included the priority, “For Old Downtown, undertake a comprehensive strategy, including community consultation, to direct future cultural heritage conservation efforts and planned change.”
The provincial government’s More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, significantly changed the structure of municipal heritage registers. As a result, all properties currently listed on the Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties must be removed by January 1, 2027. About 1,700 properties will lose protections, with 120 of these properties located in downtown Guelph.
To protect key cultural heritage resources within downtown Guelph, the City began work on the Downtown Heritage Conservation District project to determine the suitability for a heritage conservation district in the downtown and help guide growth and change in the core.
Phase 1: Study phase
The Downtown Guelph HCD Study assessed the natural, historical, design and contextual value of the study area. It reviewed the existing policy framework in the area and engaged with the community to understand the community’s experience of the area to help inform a proposed Heritage Conservation District boundary. The report was presented to council September 4, 2024 and unanimously approved, with staff being directed to begin phase 2.
Phase 2: Plan and guidelines
Phase 2 involved the creation of policy and guidelines to help manage change in the downtown in a way that enhances, highlights and conserves the distinct cultural heritage character of the area, while allowing the growth and change needed in the downtown for the City to meet its goals.
A draft version of the Downtown Heritage Conservation District plan was made available to the public on Have Your Say, on September 23, 2025. A statutory meeting was held on October 15, 2025, to give Council and the public an opportunity to provide feedback.
On January 20, 2026, the final version of the plan was presented to Council for decision. Council supported the designation through bylaw of the Downtown Heritage Conservation District and the adoption of the associated plan unanimously.
After a 30-day appeal period, the bylaw went into effect on February 28, 2026.
Community engagement
The result of the Downtown Guelph Heritage Conservation District project was shaped by thoughtful contributions from varied community members and organizations through:
- Four public open houses – two held during the study phase and two held during the plan phase
- Online surveys on the City’s Have Your Say platform
- Four Downtown Guelph HCD Focus group meetings
- Four Guelph Heritage Advisory Committee meetings
- Four Downtown Guelph Business Association meetings
- Statutory public meeting
Reports
- Downtown Guelph Heritage Conservation District Study Report
- Downtown Guelph Heritage Conservation District Plan
Images
For more information
Please contact the Project Manager for the HCD Study for more information:
Imogen Goldie (she/her)
Heritage Planner, Planning and Building Services
Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services
519-822-1260 extension 4240
[email protected]